Salt Lake City Marathon sees more security, Boston tributes

Runners pause during a moment of silence for those injured and killed in the Boston Marathon bombings before the start of the Salt Lake City marathon Saturday. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Salt Lake City marathoners paused for a moment of silence Saturday morning then joined in a rousing albeit rain-filled rendition of "Sweet Caroline" to honor Boston's bombing victims.

Many wore blue-and-yellow ribbons and official Boston Marathon gear from previous races and the one that ended in tragedy Monday when two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three and injuring nearly 200.

Some expressed relief that authorities had tracked down two brothers suspected of the attacks, one of whom was killed and the other arrested Friday night. But the increased police presence in Salt Lake City was unnerving at first on a dreary morning with intermittent rain.

"I was feeling pretty safe, ready to go, ready to get this done," said Rachel Moody, who ran in Boston on Monday and was prepared to run another 26.2 miles Saturday as a tribute. "Then I saw the bomb squad trucks and all the police along the side of the road and I had to stop and think. And it brings back so many memories of being there and what I felt when I was there.

"But then you look at the runners, you look at their faces and you see what's going on in their eyes and the tributes to Boston on their shirts and wrists and you know this running community isn't backing down ... and we're going to take this on."

By the time the race started at 7 a.m.

Advertisement

, Moody was all smiles, carrying yellow balloons to mark the pace she intended to keep - 4:09, as in 4 hours, 9 minutes, 43 seconds - the time the first bomb exploded near the finish line Monday.

The Neil Diamond music playing at the starting line temporarily drowned out the sound of police helicopters circling above.

Security overall was increased at Saturday's race along Salt Lake City's northeast side since the marathon is the first in a major city following Monday's attack in Boston. Some 20 members of the Utah National Guard were dispatched to monitor for unconventional weapons, such as radioactive and chemical threats, and police were on the watch for any items left unattended.

More than three hours in, there were no issues, other than a few medical ones near the finish.

"I've done Boston three times and all these tragedies really impact you," Sondag said. "But the Boston one really kind of just left a knot in my stomach...

"I really see the Boston Marathon as a representation of the Americana dream. Marathoning really is about what being an American is - working your ass off at something and trying things.

"I felt like it was an attack not only on the Boston Marathon itself but on that idea."

The high school track/cross country coach said her usual pre-race jitters went away when she realized there are "so many other things that matter."

That didn't mean security wasn't on her mind, especially when a packed light-railed train had to be emptied of runners so bomb-sniffing dogs could be brought on in the pre-dawn hours.

"That was a first," said Sondag, who has run three Boston Marathons. "I don't know if marathoning will ever be the same because quite frankly all of the extra added security that everybody is going to feel obligated to put in place now is going to raise the prices of it. It's going to make everything harder."

Officers with bomb-sniffing dogs also were at the start line as was a black Bomb Squad truck, which some runners used as a backdrop for photos. Authorities acknowledged about 100 more officers were on patrol than in past years, and a private security company was called in as an extra layer of protection.

"I kind of left my running heart in Boston and I feel like this is my tribute to them, especially after all the pain they had to go through again," Moody said.

Before the race, thousands signed a large tribute banner, Remembering Boston 2013.

Some messages were simple: Sending Love from Salt Lake and Utah Loves Boston.

One offered thanks. "I was there and ran the marathon, my first Boston. I was having the time of my life until I was stopped at 25.78 miles. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Thank you for the many angels in your wonderful city that helped me through a tragedy. I'll always love Boston."

Another near the top of the banner said it all: "If you are trying to defeat the human spirit, marathoners are the wrong group to target. Stay Strong Boston."

Jake Jessop, a 40-year-old Salt Lake City resident, became emotional just looking at the banner. He was running for the third time in Salt Lake, and signed up for the qualifier well before the attacks in Boston.

"But it takes on a special meaning now," Jessop said Friday afternoon. "We all run for Boston, but this year it takes on a new meaning. Everybody's goal is to qualify for Boston and for us amateur runners, it's the pinnacle of what we'd like to achieve. To see the atrocities that happened there and so many innocent people who were just trying to better themselves affected by it, either emotionally or physically, I really want to run for them."